DeSalvo remains committed to health IT
Addressing the federal Health IT Policy Committee at its May 12 meeting, National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, said she would remain in her current position "for some time" as she awaits confirmation by the U.S. Senate for the role of assistant secretary of health.
“I am here today and here in general,” she said. “We have a lot to do still and into the future and I’m looking forward to continuing that pathway with you all.”
DeSalvo said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell is committed to the work of the ONC. Burwell “considers the health IT portfolio to be essential to her major initiatives—delivery system reform, precision medicine, and opioids,” according to DeSalvo.
Even if DeSalvo is confirmed for the position, she plans to “continue to be very involved in health information technology” as Burwell’s “senior public health and medicine advisor.”
DeSalvo was named acting assistant secretary for health at HHS to help lead the Obama administration’s Ebola response. She began her role as national coordinator for health IT in January 2014.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.